


Merry Christmas, Charlie

by Luna_Corvid



Category: Death Stranding (Video Games)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Engagement, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Love, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, cute boyfriends, family fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22213471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luna_Corvid/pseuds/Luna_Corvid
Summary: Sam and family open presents, feels are experienced and Louise gets very spoiled.
Relationships: Sam Porter Bridges/Heartman
Kudos: 17





	Merry Christmas, Charlie

**Author's Note:**

> WOW this turned into a monster! I was only expecting to write about 1 - 2,000 words!  
> All mistakes are my own :)  
> Welcome to my very late Christmas fic.

“Yo, Charlie? I’m back! I got the final presents delivered to us!” 

The Porter scanned the room for any sign of his boyfriend of 3 years, initially worried that he received no response such as the usual ‘Welcome back, love!’ or ‘Good to have you back!’ with a beaming smile on his face. Eventually, when peering around the corner, he spotted the man; dead for the 40th time that day. 

He lay down still, in his usual resting place on his padded lying chair next to all of his beeping monitors and machines that monitored his vital functions and analysed his research. And on his chest, wrapped snugly in his arms, was their young Louise. Sleeping soundly with a small smile on her fledgeling face. 

Sam couldn’t help but grin at the scene before him. Even he had to admit, he’d certainly softened over the years: smiling more, laughing more, accepting hugs and more physical touches. Both Heartman’s gentle nature and Louise’s pure innocence had helped and encouraged him to achieve that. 

Sam slammed the living room door shut with his foot as his arms were full to the brim with festive gifts he’d collected from their various friends and family across America. It’d been a hell of a long-ass journey that had thankfully taken him just under a week thanks to the increasing amount of ziplines he found dotting the numerous landscapes. Regardless, his arms felt like they were about to fall off so he needed to get the several presents he had under the heavily decorated tree ASAP. 

Almost stumbling down the small number of steps to the lower part of the floor and almost managing to drop multiple presents in the process, he finally managed to carefully kneel down and lovingly deposit all the presents neatly around the tree until he was sure Heartman would be satisfied. 

He smiled at his meticulous handiwork and sighed in great relief that all his hard work had finally paid off. He could finally rest, relax and be content to celebrate Christmas with his family. 

His thoughts were disrupted by a sudden gasp and abrupt movement to his right. 

Heartman had been resuscitated with a start once again, still cradling Louise in his arms. He immediately began typing on the hologram keyboard displayed from his watch with the utmost intent, so much so that he failed to notice Sam’s arrival. “No luck this time either…” He sighed. 

A brief gurgle from a sleepy Louise jolted him from his grief. Heartman smiled and cradled his daughter to his chest where he nuzzled her head. “But it’s good to remember that I have you with me, my dear.” He smiled. 

“It’s good to have you to.” Sam chimed in. 

Heartman’s head shot up at the familiar voice. “Oh, Sam! You’re finally back!” He yelled in delight. 

Heartman slid down from his seat and raced up to Sam where he enveloped him in a one-armed hug, the other arm still holding Louise who was also sleepily happy at her papa’s return. 

Sam joined in with his laughter and embraced his family, one arm around Heartman’s waist and the other softly stroking Louise’s head of downy hair. “Good to _be_ back, Charlie.” He replied. He then glanced down at Louise. “How’s our little Lou?” 

Heartman slightly blushed at his love saying his real name (Sam was the only person he had ever trusted enough to tell) and joined Sam’s gaze. “A little restless without you here but overall-” 

He was interrupted by Louise giggling, now fully awake, and reaching her papa with small, grabbing hands. “Papa!” She elatedly cried. 

“Hey there darlin’, it’s so good to see you again.” Sam said a gentle smile on his rugged face. 

Charlie handed Louise to Sam for him to hold and cuddle and Sam kissed Louise’s nose causing the toddler to giggle again. 

“Oh, my goodness! You even arranged the presents! Oh, Sam, you didn’t have to do that for me!” 

Sam found himself suddenly locked into a hug once again except this time the hug was accompanied by a big, wet kiss to his cheek. 

To his surprise, Sam found himself tearing up. He’d been away from his family for less than a week but coming back to all of this affection and love was something he doubted he would ever get used to. “Anything for you.” He responded with a watery grin. 

Heartman grinned back and gently nuzzled his boyfriend’s forehead. 

“Daddy loves papa!” Louise laughed as she clumsily clapped her hands together. 

Her adoptive parents smiled. “Yes, Lou. Daddy loves papa very much. And daddy loves you too!” Charlie said as he kissed her, causing his daughter to burst into laughter once again. 

“How about we sit down for twenty minutes just to cuddle eh?” Heartman suggested. “It feels like years since we have had the time to.” 

“Good idea. I’m pooped.” Sam answered. “I’ll just take my gear off and I’ll be with you in a moment, darlin’.” He gave Heartman a loving kiss and stepped up the stairs and out the door to deposit his gear in the closet. 

Louise snickered. “He say poop!” 

Heartman sighed in resignation that his daughter had inherited Sam’s rarely present immature humour. 

“Err, yes baby. He - he did…” 

_Good Lord…_ He thought. _How an earth will I survive her teenage years?_

Once Sam had returned, he found Heartman and Louise on the leather couch, contently waiting for him. Sam sat down and wrapped his arms around his partner and child and leaned his head on Heartman’s shoulder as Heartman himself, leaned his head on Sam’s and held Louise between them. Louise’s papa took her hand in his and both of them gave each other a small smile. 

Heartman glanced around, taking in the decorations around the room: the multicoloured tinsel hanging from the shoulders of the BT sculptures along with the coloured paper hats that rested upon their heads, various metallic paper snowflakes that hung from the ceiling, the Santa, snowflake and reindeer stickers on the giant window and finally, the fairly large Christmas tree, now surrounded with presents, that was decorated with baubles, tinsel and fairy lights. 

Heartman had never bothered with Christmas celebrations before; he was too busy with researching past Death Strandings and searching for his wife and child. But since his relationship with Sam and Louise had grown, he had started to get into the celebrations more and more especially to please Louise and to try and give her as normal a childhood as possible. 

It was beautiful. 

Sam had ended up doing most of the work of course, as Charlie had to take his inevitable three-minute “nap” sixty times a day. Admittedly, it made him feel a little guilty even though Sam didn’t mind whatsoever. It couldn’t be helped. Louise even pitched in occasionally with help from her dads who lifted her to place the star on the tree. She was exceedingly happy with her work. 

They all comfortably sat in silence for a while; one small, happy family once again. No work to do. No worries. Just a snapshot in time of happiness that they would all treasure forever. 

Unfortunately, after nineteen minutes Heartman kissed his loved ones and casually told them it was time for him to die for a “hot second” (that earned him a smirk and a light punch in the arm from Sam). 

As Heartman lay lifeless on his padded bed, Sam cradled his adopted daughter in his arms and contemplated his lover – he thought of the pain, the crushing loneliness, the countless tears for his lost family. Sam knew very well how he felt; he’d lost his own family before after all. He’d felt it all before. The desire to just end it all. 

Looking down at his now snoozing toddler, he silently vowed with utmost vehemence that he would do his damned best to ensure she would never have to go through anything like that in her life. And he sealed this promise with a soft peck of a kiss on her head and closed his eyes to rest. 

* * *

Sam was abruptly awoken by a hand gently shaking his shoulder. He blearily opened his eyes to see Heartman’s gentle, face smiling at him lovingly. “You fell asleep, love.” He grinned. “I didn’t have the heart – err” He laughed, realising his unintentional pun. “I didn’t have the heart to wake you up.” 

Sam smirked at the pun and stretched his muscles. “S’okay, man. I needed that.” He yawned. 

Browsing the room in his sleepy haze, he began to notice the room was a lot brighter than he remembered, and none of the lights was on. Furrowing his brows, he asked, “What’s the time?” 

Heartman quickly checked his watch. “Ten thirty a.m.” He replied. 

Sam immediately shot up, now very much wide awake. “What the hell? How long was I out for?” 

“Approximately…” Heartman pulled up a timer hologram from his watch. “Nine hours and thirty minutes.” His expression turned smug, he seemed rather proud of himself. 

“Alright smart-ass.” Sam retorted before his face turned thoughtful. “Wait… You… You time my sleep?” 

“Ah, yes. Well… A good amount of sleep is paramount to great health so…” 

“Aw, so you care about my health huh?” Sam joked, raising an eyebrow. 

Heartman’s face turned bright red and Sam was sure that if he got any redder, he’d probably explode. Or melt. For some reason, he felt Charlie would be the kind to melt more than explode. Weird thought process but okay. 

The scientist in question stammered and stuttered in embarrassment, grasping for the right words to say. “O-of course I do! I-I you know… I wouldn’t care about you if I didn’t love you.” He fiddled with his glasses and his fingerless gloves so he didn’t have to look at Sam. 

Sam grinned in glee. He adored it when Heartman got embarrassed, and even more so when he admitted he loved him. He would never admit it but he even gained a light blush himself. 

Suddenly, Heartman scoffed. “You’d think as a man of such advanced scientific pedigree, I wouldn’t be so affected by admissions of affection when I am more than aware it’s all just chemical reactions and primate urges to breed.” 

“I mean, you got all the knowledge sure. Doesn’t stop you from being head-over-heels for the best Porter in America though.” Sam jokingly chided. 

Heartman went red again as he heartily laughed. “I suppose so, yes.” He shyly replied. 

“Yeah.” 

Sam stood up and wrapped his arms around his love and Heartman looked him in the eyes to see nothing but pure worship, fondness and tenderness that any stranger would look at Sam and think him incapable of with his gritty, stoic persona he portrayed to the rest of the world. “I know I don’t say it as often as a should, but I do love you, Charlie. You and Louise.” Sam confessed. 

Heartman cherished these moments. Times when, Sam completely let his guard down and let out he true, loving self. But he had also come to accept that due to the man’s past trauma, these times where unfortunately few and far between. Nevertheless, whatever burdens Sam had to bear, Heartman would make sure he would always be standing diligently by his side. All for the man and child who had helped him crawl out of his lingering depression. 

Sam slowly pulled out of the hug and gave Heartman a quick kiss. “Should probably open the presents now; it bein’ Christmas Day an’ all.” He said. 

“Certainly.” Heartman snickered. “Let’s get Louise, shall we?” 

Sam nodded and held out his arm which Heartman took and they both made their way to Louise’s room. 

Once they approached her crib, they saw her already awake and peering over the edge of the wooden bars, wanting to get out. As soon as she noticed her fathers, she raised her hands as a gesture of wanting to be picked up and giggled at the happy looks on their faces. 

Heartman approached and carefully picked her up in his arms. “Hello there, Little Lou. Merry Christmas! Want to open the presents?” He asked. 

“Ya! Ya!” Louise cried out. 

He turned around to walk back into the living room and as he walked out of Louise’s room, Sam put a muscled arm around his waist. 

In no time at all, they were all around the tree staring at all the presents with ultimate happiness spread across their faces: Sam still in his grey undervest and trousers, Charlie in a light blue t-shirt and grey pyjama bottoms and Louise in her mini Porter lookalike, sheepskin onesie (that Heartman had taken countless pictures of, claiming it was ‘Just too cute’ while Sam rolled his eyes and hid a smile). 

Louise clapped her hands rapidly and swiftly waddled over to a big green present wrapped in a red fabric bow. 

“Who’s is from Lou?” Heartman curiously asked. 

Louise cautiously examined the box, inspecting it for a label until she grasped something on the back. “Car- carduh!” She said. 

“Hmmm? There’s a card? Let’s have a look then.” 

He gently picked up the gift and turned it around indeed finding a card taped to it. He gently peeled it off, opened the envelope. 

“Who’s it from?” Sam asked. 

“Oh! It’s from the mysterious Fragile.” Charlie laughed. 

Heartman opened up the card and eloquently read its contents: 

**To Sam, Heartman & Lou,**

**Have a wonderful Christmas together! And because I didn’t get a chance to say it earlier this year, Happy 3 rd Relationship Anniversary!!! I hope you enjoy your presents ** **😊 I made them myself** **C**

**Your good friend, Fragile x**

**P.S: I tried to cut down on Cryptobiodes but they’re just too damn good so now I’m eating more than ever. Sorry Sam x**

Sam chortled at the last sentence of the card. “Well, at least she tried.” 

“Dear, Fragile without Cryptobiodes is like me without my AED. She just wouldn’t be able to survive.” Heartman lightly joked. 

“Heh, true.” 

“Pres sent!” Yelled Louise at the top of her tiny toddler lungs. 

Heartman smiled and handed her the gift. “Go on then honey, see what Auntie Fragile got you. And try not to shout next time you want something okay?” 

“Okie.” She quietly replied. 

To say little Lou ripped the packaging to pieces would be a monumental understatement. It was massacred. Poor present; we hardly knew ye… 

As Louise took the lid of the box, she squealed in delight! “One-see!” 

Heartman reached in the box and laughed. 

“Oh, my word! Sam, look at these! They’re so cute!” He cooed. 

Sam looked on as out of the box Heartman pulled three onesies: all mini replicas like the Porter one Louise was wearing. There was one of Fragile’s leather getup, one of Locke's and an adorable little mini copy of Die-Hardman’s suit which sent Heartman into cuteness overload. He whipped out his phone and immediately began taking pictures. 

Sam looked confused. “Ugh, shouldn’t you be taking pictures of Louise _in_ the onesies?” 

“Of course, I’ll get around to it, but…” He gestured wildly, struggling with how endearing he found the presents while also trying to speak a somewhat comprehensive sentence. “They’re so well made! She made these herself! Oh, it must have taken her ages! I had no idea she had such talent! This is ju-” 

Sam smirked and shuffled over to his boyfriend, gently taking the phone from his grasp. “Charlie, chill out man. You’re gonna explode if you don’t stop ya know.” 

Heartman looked away sheepishly. “Yes, you’re right.” He looked up at Sam. “Sorry love, I can’t help myself sometimes. Especially when it comes to Louise.” 

“Well, remind me to never let you watch cute kitten videos. You _would_ probably die of cuteness overload then.” 

Heartman lightly giggled. “True. Oh, wait! There’s one more thing in here.” 

He carefully reached deep into the box and with widened eyes, pulled out a small version of Fragile’s umbrella. Heartman immediately began to tear up. “Oh, Fragile… You really shouldn’t have…” 

Sam wrapped an arm around Heartman’s shoulders. “Come on now darlin’, don’t  
cry.”

“I’m sorry.” He sniffed. “It’s just so much effort she put in.” 

“I know.” 

They stayed like that for a minute while Charlie tried his best to calm himself down and put himself together. 

“Why’s dada cry?” Louise asked with a furrowed brow. 

“Don’t worry Lou, these are happy tears. I’m just happy with the presents you got.” 

Louise wobbled towards her daddies and hugged his leg. “Love yoo dada.” 

Heartman choked back fresh tears as he picked her up and hugged her. “I  
love you too baby.”

Sam did his best to take in the wonderful scene before him, and commit it to memory. He loved moments like this. It reminded him of how far they had all come from their broken-hearted beginnings. Finally, they had the peace they deserved. 

“Can we open ‘nother?” Pondered Louise, examining and picking at her new onesies. 

“Absolutely.” He answered and looked at all the other presents under the tree, trying to decide which one to open next. He randomly decided on a dark blue one near the back. 

“What about this one?” He wondered. 

“Looks good.” Answered Sam, and began to tack off the wrapping while Louise played with the ribbon from Fragile’s gift by waving it in the air and watching the wavy patterns it created, and Heartman wiped his eyes with a tissue. 

“Oh hey, it’s from that couple I helped all them years back. The one with that junkyard guy.” Said the surprised Porter 

“Hm? I thought they broke up?” Heartman questioned. 

“Yeah they did, they were on and off for the next year before finally makin’ it work and following through with their engagement.” He explained. 

“Oh, that’s lovely! What have they got us?” 

There was a piece of card in the box which Sam picked up and read: 

**Hi there!**

**It’s been a while hasn’t it?**

**Well my newly made husband of mine and I have finally got our acts together and had a small wedding ceremony a few months back; just me, my new husband, the priest and my mother** . **It was wonderful! It also reminded me of all you did to reunite us all those years ago and we thought it appropriate to thank you by sending you some Christmas gifts! Especially after we learned you’d settled down yourself! I must admit, I didn’t expect you to have a child before _we_ did ha-ha! We heard your boyfriend likes taking pictures so we think he’ll like our present! **

**Anyway, thank you so much for what you did for us all those years ago.**

**ハッピークリスマスサムと家族!!!**

“What does that last part say?” Heartman asked, staring haplessly at the Japanese script. 

“Happīkurisumasusamu to Kazoku: It means Happy Christmas Sam and Family.” Confirmed Sam. 

“Are you telling me that in all these years I’ve known you, I have only just found out that you can speak perfect Japanese?” Heartman said, jokingly offended. 

Sam looked very bashful as he replied. “I only know a little bit, just picked some up from shows I used to watch…” 

“Wait, you used to watch anime?” Heartman enquired. 

“N-no! I just- I-” Sam floundered around for a while, not wanting to admit his childhood obsession with Dragonball, Yu Yu Hakusho and Sailor Moon. However, after realising that he was doing nothing more than making himself look increasingly suspicious, he gave up and sighed. “Fine, yeah. I did. Can’t remember what it was or anything…” 

“That’s adorable.” Charlie clasped his hands together with barley contained glee. 

“You think everything’s adorable,” Sam grumbled. 

“Especially you.” Charlie winked, causing a major eye roll from Sam. 

It would be considered rather uncharacteristic to anyone else who knew him but since they had gotten together Heartman had been brought out of his shell around Sam. Seeing Sam’s unwavering confidence had rubbed off on him over the years, triggering confidence within Heartman that he had not seen in years. 

Sam looked away, trying to hide his increasing blush thanks to his boyfriend’s comment. 

“Remind me to show you JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure one day.” Heartman suddenly said 

“What the hell is that?” Sam asked. 

Heartman’s face instantly lit up. “Well the manga has eight parts, the last one is still ongoing, and so far, they have only animated up to part five, so I’ll have to read you the rest. Part one is about Jonathan Joestar and his battles against his adopted brother turned vampire, Dio Brando, as he learns the power of Hamon to defeat him. Then each part after focuses on a descendant of the Joestar lineage! Although part eight and part seven can get a little confusing for some people due to them taking place in alternate universes.” He animatedly explained. 

Sam sat in silence for a few seconds trying to comprehend what he had just heard. He felt like his brain was going to explode with Heartman’s seemingly endless well of knowledge of whatever this show was. “Oh man, I’m sorry I asked.” He said, absolutely bewildered. 

Heartman giggled at his confusion, watching as his boyfriend started to look at the contents of the next present. 

“Oh hey, it’s photo albums.” Said Sam. 

Sam picked up the contents, showing them to be two large, purple, leather photo albums with the words ‘Family Memories’ embossed on them in metallic blue letters. “Thank God!” Sam exclaimed. “Finally, somewhere to put your giant collection of photos.” 

“It’s not _that_ big…” Charlie defended. 

“Darlin’, it takes up half of your study. And your study is enormous.” 

Heartman thought back to the mountain of photographs Sam is referring to. Photos of his wife and child, of landscapes, of research he has uncovered and of his current family. He thinks of how he loves having them nearby; a silent comfort of everything and everyone he has ever loved. Then he thinks back to the times, Sam has struggled to bring him tea or lunch because he had to carefully step around the pile of memories or numerous times when he had carried Louise in with him and how he’d panicked when she had almost knocked the stack over, forcing him to not be able to have her in with him when Sam was out on a job. 

To be honest, he had realised the inconvenience a while ago and had always planned on dealing with the photographs eventually. But every time he tried; it was as if moving even one was some form of bad luck. He felt an intense panic whenever he tried – it was as if he was defiling their memories somehow, even though he knew he was doing nothing of the sort. It was a problem he knew he would have to confront, defiantly with Sam’s emotional support. 

So, upon reflection: yes. Sam was right. It needed to be dealt with. 

Heartman sighed, now feeling emotionally exhausted. “Okay, maybe it is a little much. 

Sam laughed at the complete understatement. But after three years of living with the man, he understood the look of reflection and exhaustion on his face which likely meant that his scientist boyfriend had been reflecting pretty hard on something. 

He pulled Heartman next to him and gave him a small kiss on the nose. “You okay?” He asked. 

“Yes, I’m alright. I was just thinking about how much work it’s going to be to sort out all of those photographs…” He answered. 

“Ah don’t worry yourself too much about it. We’ll manage, we always do.” 

“Yes. We do.” He leaned into Sam, seeking the comfort only the Porter could give him. 

They would have stayed that way for longer had Louise not become impatient with the sudden lack of present opening. “We open dis one!” Said Louise as she tugged on her papa’s sleeve, having grown bored of playing with the ribbon. 

“Okay then,” Sam said, picking up the pink present she was looking at. 

“Let’s see who this is from?” 

The label on the present said simply: 

**Happy Holidays Heartman, Sam and Louise!**

**From the Mountain Knot Scientists.**

“Oh, hey it’s from your scientist buddies.” 

“Well more colleagues than buddies but it’s nice of them regardless.” Heartman matter of factly stated. 

“Ouch, I thought you all liked each other.” 

“We do, but…” He sighed. “I’m not the most sociable of people; I was never interested in being more than acquaintances.” 

Sam of all people understood completely what Heartman was on about. He was never the most sociable himself, hence his lack of friends. Even as a child he was never too interested. Lucy, Louise, Heartman, Mama, Lockne, Deadman, Fragile and Cliff were the only people he’d ever considered having some sort off connection with that was more than just ‘people he knew’. He’d even formed an ‘on decent terms’ relationship with his dad’s new boyfriend: Die-Hardman. Or has he now knew him as John. 

It was an honest mystery how Cliff was still here after he’d, you know, kind of died and all. But after the Last Stranding had been prevented, he had been found, appropriately, on a beach in the West Coast. He was the only one who understood why John had become so passionate about making sure Cliff was okay thanks to his breakdown after the presidential speech he’d made. 

At first, he’d been very wary of the man due to being lied to by him, but over the years he’d learned to mellow out around the guy to the point where they sometimes came over to Heartman’s for Thanksgiving and on occasional days when they were both free. 

He’d had to learn to like him a bit more especially after Cliff and he had finally got together and he saw how happy he made his dad. 

“Dear, are you alright? You look like you’re spacing out.” He heard his boyfriend’s voice say. 

“Huh?” 

He snapped out of his thoughts to see the concerned face of Charlie looking at him. 

“Are you okay? Do you feel unwell?” Heartman asked again. 

“Oh. Yeah, sorry. Just thinking about things.” He awkwardly replied. 

“Are you okay with telling me what?” 

Sam was silent for a few moments before he finally got the courage to answer. “About how many connections I’ve formed and lost since starting all this. How I have my dad again. How I have you." 

A fond smile slowly formed across Heartman’s face. “I love you too.” He said and softly kissed his lover. 

Sam smiled. How in the hell did he ever get so lucky? 

A short noise of annoyance came from the direction of their daughter, desperate to open the scientist’s gift after having gotten bored once again. Sam clumsily apologised, now feeling a slight bit emotionally wearied as well. 

“Sorry baby, papa was just thinkin’.” 

“Mmm.” She appeared to mull over what he said in her immature mind, eventually seeming to let it go. Then she made lumbering grabbing motions towards the opened gift. 

“Let’s see what they got us, eh?” Heartman encouragingly asked. 

He deftly reached into the mystery package, wary of accidentally causing damage to the contents and took out, with confident hands, a technologically sleek-looking plastic circle adorned with the glass porthole shaped lights along with various glow-in-the-dark animals attached to it: dogs, rabbits, monkeys, whales and lions (the latter two making Sam shiver a little). 

“Goodness, it’s a baby mobile,” Heartman exclaimed in surprise. 

“And a pretty expensive looking one too,” Sam added. “They make it themselves?” 

“I can only assume so.” Replied Charlie. “It undoubtedly looks like something they would have no trouble in creating.” 

He pressed a blue, plastic button on the top of the mobile and the device immediately burst to life! The plastic circle lit up and cycled through every colour, the glass porthole lights pulsed in varying patterns, the animals sparkled a chirilium gold and rotated around the mobile and the nursery rhyme Rock-a-Bye-Baby played accompanied with classical instruments. 

“This is beautiful!” Heartman admired the creation. He got busy analysing it from every angle he could. Watching it in depth as it worked its hypnotic magic on their prying, wondering eyes. 

Sam carefully picked up the baby mobile with surprisingly delicate hands as they all watched it work. “I guess I’ll hang this up then huh?” 

“Sure, go ahead. Louise and I will check out the next ones.” Charlie assured him. 

“Okay.” He gave Heartman a peck on the cheek. “Be back in a few minutes, darlin’.” 

Heartman grinned with much love in his eyes before clearing the packaging to one side and picking the next closest present. 

This one was very large indeed! A green metallic box heavy with many items. 

“Wish to take a look inside, Lou?” He asked. 

“Yah!” She screeched, causing her dad to wince a little at the volume. 

He accompanied her in opening the metallic box. It was locked closed with the type of lock that you would see on a cookie jar; one that you just need to lift to unlock but that would require too much muscle power for a three-year-old to try alone. It didn’t stop Heartman from being a great dad and making Louise think she managed it all by herself. The look of triumph on her face was priceless. 

Inside he found a big plush brown teddy with a white tummy; one of those vintage expensive-looking ones with limbs that could be moved up and down and a head that could be moved to the left and right. It held a metallic green card balanced on its legs. 

“It feels so soft…” Heartman wistfully commented to himself. “Almost like some sort of ultra-soft cotton material.” 

It reminded him of toys he would play with, in his youth. He hadn’t seen one like this in decades. 

“Here Louise! You have been getting a lot of nice things this year! You must have been a very good girl.” He praised Louise and patted her head. 

Louise giggled and launched herself on the teddy, nuzzling her face into its tummy. So cute!!! Charlie _had_ to take a picture; he had two albums to fill after all! 

After taking the picture and cooing over it for a few minutes, he carefully moved the card from the teddy’s legs and opened it up to see who it was from. 

**Merry Christmas Sam, Heartman and Lou!**

**I recently met this wonderful scientist here in Bridges HQ who makes vintage teddy bears as a hobby and I immediately thought of little Lou!**

**I would love to meet up with you all some time to catch up and see how Louise is doing!**

**Let me know if you are free sometime.**

**Love from Uncle Deadman x**

**P.S: Give Lou a kiss from me**

The sincerity and obvious adoration the card had been written with caused a smile to break out on his face. Deadman was still Sam’s best friend to this day and always asked about Louise every time they met up; it was obvious he loved her as much as they did to the point where he was lovingly referred to as Uncle Deadman and Sam joked that Louise had three dads. 

“Hey Sam, look what Deadman got for Louise!” Heartman yelled. 

Sam re-entered the living room, having just finished putting up the baby mobile. A slightly awkward task since it kept falling, and every time he caught it, he got bonked on the head for his efforts. He looked upon his daughter and her great efforts to ostensibly squeeze the stuffing out of her new teddy. “Oh man, Lou’s never gonna let that go.” He said with affection prominent in his tone. 

“At least it should keep her occupied for ages. And help with her bad sleeping habits.” Said Heartman. 

“True.” Sam agreed. “It would be nice to not woken up at three am every morning and sleep in with you sometimes.” 

Heartman’s face when slightly red with the thought of Sam and him just being able to lay with each other for hours. Especially if Sam was spooning him… Oh yes, that would be wonderful… 

“Lookin’ a little embarrassed there, honey. You thinkin’ about us sleeping in together?” Sam asked, with a cheeky smirk on his face. 

Charlie looked even more sheepish than before and leaned into Sam’s shoulder, feeling an incredible sense of comfort from his boyfriend’s strong body. One of the things he loved most about Sam was his strength; in body and mind. How his bull-headedness helped him pull through the toughest of times and how, whenever he caressed Sam’s hardened muscles, it was a reminder of how Sam was always more than prepared to fight to protect the ones he cared for. “I love you, Sam.” He softly said. 

“Love you too,” Sam replied, as he leaned his head on Heartman’s. Both their faces were encompassed with immense grins. 

“Hey, that red one over there… I think it says it’s from Lockne and Målingen.” Heartman noticed, pointing at the present that was stuffed near the back of the tree. 

“Kind of an odd shape ain’t it?” Sam commented. 

Indeed, it was. 

It was a very odd shape indeed. 

Various bumps along every side of the present made trying to determine what it was from eyesight alone basically impossible. It was one of the strangest looking things they had ever seen. 

“I’ll bring it over here,” Sam said. He reluctantly lifted his head from his boyfriend’s and made his way over to the unusually shaped gift. “Oh.” He exclaimed. 

Whatever it was, it was a hell of a lot heavier than Sam had expected. Nothing unbearably so but it certainly had some weight to it that his boyfriend would find difficult to deal with. Carrying it over in front of Heartman, he let out a small noise of exertion as he placed it back on the floor. 

“Are you okay?” Heartman asked. 

“Yeah, s’just a little heavy is all.” Answered Sam, who was still breathing a little heavy due to the weight of whatever it was. 

“Hmm… I wonder what it is?” Heartman pondered. 

The whatchamacallit was wrapped incredibly well! There was no unnecessary wrapping paper or tape hanging off; it had been wrapped with much care and attention. It was incredibly neat. 

“Does Louise want to help open it?” Said Heartman as he turned over the Christmas tree-shaped label attached to the present. 

Sam glanced over at his daughter. She was still very much entranced by her new teddy bear, moving its arms up and down over and over again. “She seems a little distracted for now.” He responded. “Still playing with Deadman’s bear.” 

“That was very sweet of him. He loves her very much.” The scientist smiled. 

“Oh yeah. Louise didn’t like him much at first but they kinda grew on each other over time. Now she can’t get enough of him.” 

“I’m glad of that. He was very lonely before he met you both was he not?” 

“Mmhm, no parents, no friends, no family. It was just him for a long while. The fact that he was born in a test tube didn’t help much. And the fact he’s always been a little awkward with people meant he had a lot of trouble maintaining relationships with anyone.” Explained Sam. 

“Well, it’s nice to know that he’s not alone anymore. For a man with such a cheery personality, it’s a shame he doesn’t get to see people he is friends with very often.” Charlie contemplated. 

A solemn look came over Sam’s face. “Mmm. That’s usually how it goes.” He said regretfully. 

Then Heartman had an idea. “We should invite him around sometime!” 

Sam’s face instantly lit up. “Sounds cool. When you next free?” 

“How about the day after tomorrow? I would say tomorrow but I’d err… rather like to see if we could just… erm… cuddle tomorrow? If that is okay with you?” He confessed bashfully. 

Sam snorted with amusement at how easy it was to embarrass his boyfriend. “Cuddlin’ with you is always gonna be okay with me, darlin’.” 

“Good!” Heartman rewarded Sam with a delightful smile. 

“Who’s this thing from anyway?” Said Sam with a thoughtful expression. He eyed up the present from all angles, trying to figure out what it could be. 

“It says…” Heartman lifted the label and read out its contents: 

**Happy Holidays to you all!**

**We engineered this gift ourselves. It works just like the real thing, but a lot safer to use.**

**Have fun.**

**Lockne & M** **ålingen.**

“As short and sweet as always,” Sam remarked. 

“It wouldn’t be them if it wasn’t.” Heartman jovially agreed. 

Sam began dismantling the wrapping paper from the present. Although, not quite with the viciousness of his three-year-old. 

“Let’s finally find what the hell this thing is…” He mumbled in concentration. 

Starting from the big lump at the front, it didn’t take long, after the wrapping from that area had been removed, for the two men to realise it was two thick wheels. 

“Wait… Nah it can’t be…” Sam muttered. 

But the more was revealed, the more obvious it became that it was. 

Louise now had her very own green and black mini reverse-trike. Complete with its self-charging battery engine and removable stabiliser wheels. 

“How are all our friends so damn talented?” Heartman asked, laughing in amazement. 

“Lou’s gonna grow up to be unbelievably spoiled,” Sam added. 

Then he called out to his daughter. 

“Hey Louise, check this out!” 

But looking over at her, he noticed she had fallen asleep against Deadman’s teddy. 

“Wow, zonked out already, huh?” He said, surprised. Louise usually had a lot more energy than this. 

“Well, she is only young. A little excitement can take a lot out of her. How about we put her on the couch over there?” Heartman suggested. 

“Good idea,” Sam said as he picked up his daughter cautiously, doing his best not to jostle her too much, and placed her with a cushion under her head on the couch before doing the same with Deadman’s teddy. He put the bear down next to her where she promptly snuggled into it like it was the only thing that mattered to her. It was incredibly endearing. 

“Goodness!” Charlie unexpectedly exclaimed, holding his hands up in shock. 

Sam rushed over to his love. “Hey, what is it?” 

Heartman was staring at a shiny golden present complete with a black ribbon and he was holding the label from the present in his hand. “It-it says it’s from Higgs…” He stammered. 

Just like Cliff, Higgs had also been found on a coastal beach; actually a few miles away from where Sam’s father had been found. Even though Sam and Fragile pretty sure he’d killed himself back at their final showdown when Fragile had left him with her gun. 

There was more to this whole Death Stranding thing than they’d all realised, and it was something Heartman was intensely interested in, and something Sam had to drag him away from multiple times to remind him that sleep did, still exist and was still necessary for, you know, living. 

That being said, they had no contact with the man since he was found. They had heard that he was working on “turning over a new leaf” (which they were understandably disbelieving of) and was living back in his old place, where he worked on researching ancient history, with frequent visits to Bridges HQ so they could poke and prod him to try and find out how he had come back from the dead. 

Although Higgs, insane as always, apparently really enjoyed it. 

To each their own, huh? 

“Haven’t spoken to that jackass since we beat the crap outta each other.” Sam contemplated bitterly. 

“Well, at least we can be sure it’s safe. Bridges would not have allowed it to be picked up otherwise.” Heartman thoughtfully added. 

“Yeah, I guess. What does it say anyway?” Asked Sam. 

Heartman read the note on the label: 

**Good day to you Sam! Merry Christmas! Or Happy Hanukah maybe?**

**I hear you’ve settled down; got yourself a boyfriend an everything! You even kept that BB thing! Lou or something like that, right? I’ll be honest Sammy; I didn’t picture you as a dad type but what the hell, do I know. Not much**

**Anyway, I wanted to say I’m sorry. For trying to kill you and end the world, you know? Looking back on it, I can see how disillusioned I was. How out of control my ego had gotten. And Amelie didn’t help much either. Although you’ve probably figured all that out by peeking at my journal, now haven’t you? I’m planning on apologising to Fragile too or at least trying to. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t want me anywhere near her right now. Or ever. So, I guess I’ll have to keep working on that one.**

**I’ve started seeing a therapist as well; one to help me with my cliché traumatic childhood, anger issues and shit. It’s made me feel kinda better I suppose… But it’s only been going on a few weeks so I guess I’ll just have to see how it goes. I haven’t cried once. I swear. You’re laughing at me I can tell… Stop it!** ****

**Well, enough of me. I got you something to symbolise a peace treaty of sorts. Something you can hold on to as proof that I’m done with blowing shit up and bringing forth the apocalypse.**

**Perchance one day, we can settle our differences and stand to be in the same vicinity as one another. I’m not expecting friendship, just a degree of trust sometimes. If you’re willing of course.**

**Yours faithfully,**

**N Higgs Monaghan** **Y**

Sam snorted in disbelief. “Fancy putting a heart at the end of a letter to the man you tried to murder multiple times.” 

“At least he appears to be trying. And he _is_ Higgs, he is not known for being the most sensitive of fellows.” 

But Sam seemed to be lost in his morbid thoughts. “Yeah. Trying to deceive us maybe…" 

“He can try all he wants, but he won’t get very far with Bridges breathing down his back.” 

Sam sighed, not at all convinced. “Yeah well, we’ll have to see about that one.” 

Heartman rubbed Sam’s shoulder to try and comfort him. He knew that once Sam started overthinking things, he got into a vicious cycle. “Let’s see what this ‘peace treaty’ is then hmm?” He said, hoping the change of subject would distract his lover from his current thoughts. 

He unwrapped whatever it was and came upon the inside of the box that had been thoroughly covered in bubble wrap; whatever was in there was quite precious to Higgs. 

After digging around for a few seconds, Heartman lifted out something he wasn’t quite expecting. 

“That’s Higg’s fucking mask!” Yelled Sam. He was enraged at the gall of the flamboyant idiot. 

“Language, Sam!” Heartman admonished him. 

Sam checked over his shoulder at Louise. “Chill out darlin’, she’s asleep.” He said. 

“Nevertheless…” Heartman sighed while handing the mask to Sam. “As slightly amusing as a swearing child would be, it would not be very appropriate around everyone else.” 

“Sorry. I’ll be more careful from now on okay?” Sam apologised. 

“Thank you, Sam.” Charlie kissed his cheek and Sam smiled. 

Sam thoughtfully examined the mask for a few minutes, mulling something over in his mind. “I actually can’t believe he gave this to me.” He said. 

“It means a lot to him, I take it?” Charlie asked. 

“Yeah. Fragile told me he once said that he didn’t like his face. So, he used this mask and a protective one underneath to hide it. He also used it as an outlet for some of his DOOMS abilities.” Sam explained. 

Heartman began looking around the room. Observing for a possible empty place that would be suitable for a display. “I’m sure we could stand it up somewhere. I could make a display for it if you want.” He commented. 

Sam was lost in his thoughts for a second. A weird part of himself was considering putting it up somewhere, maybe as a reminder of the dangers he had overcome. But still… This was also a reminder of Higgs; the asshole that kept sticking giant BTs on him for shits and giggles. “I’ll think about it. Put it back in its box for now.” He finally decided. 

“Okay,” Heartman replied. He understood the indecisiveness that his boyfriend faced. It was better not to try and push him when he was anxious like this. 

Heartman did as Sam said. He understood that the relationship between Higgs and Sam was somewhat complicated. They were like two estranged brothers. While both men hated each other; they had a bizarre understanding of the other’s intentions. They understood why the other man did what they did, and had twisted mutual respect as a result. However, that respect only went so far due to obvious reasons. 

Even though he’d never met him, Heartman could virtually feel Higg’s emotions through his letter. He got the impression that Higgs was certainly a tad out of sorts, definitely not your average person. But he also got the idea that he was trying, in his own strange way, to say sorry and atone for what he had done. 

The more he learned about Higgs, the more intrigued he became. But now was not the time to dwell on such thoughts. He would have plenty of time to do that during his next bout of research. 

“Only one left.” Said Sam, looking at the last grey gift left under the tree. 

“Hold on!” Heartman suddenly startled. 

He reached into one of his pyjama bottom’s pockets and pulled out a beautiful Chiral necklace. It was small and unique, its bright golden sheen glittering seamlessly. 

Sam smiled. It was the rare smile that only appeared around Heartman and Louise. The one that showed Sam was utterly content. “Little ones gonna love this.” He said, smiling at the anticipation at his daughter’s reaction. 

“She doesn’t look like she’s gonna be waking up any time soon,” Charlie observed. 

Sam thought for a moment before his face lit up with an idea. “How ‘bout we put it on her? A little surprise for when she wakes up.” He suggested. 

“That would be a wonderful thing to do.” 

Sam concurred. “Okay then. Let’s get to it.” 

Sam silently walked on his knees to Louise. Once he had approached her, his surprisingly delicate hands gently lifted her head from the cushion it lay on and positioned the necklace around her small neck. “It looks wonderful on her.” He kindly declared. 

“She will adore it, I’m sure,” Heartman added, a wide smile on his perceptive face. 

Sam shuffled back next to his lover and looked over the last three gifts. “Erm… That orange one is from me.” He sheepishly admitted. 

“Oh, wonderful! I’ll open it right away!” 

“No, wait! Not yet!” Sam suddenly yelled, grabbing Heartman’s arms to restrain him. 

“Oh, sorry!” The scientist fretfully apologised. 

“No, no. _I’m_ sorry for shouting.” Sam said as he let go of his lover’s arms. “It’s just – it’s – special, you know? I think you should leave it for last.” 

“That’s no problem, love.” He gave Sam a loving kiss. “And apology accepted. Besides, the white one next to it is actually from me.” 

“How about we leave our gifts for each other ‘til last, huh?” Sam suggested. 

“Sounds good. I’ll see who that third one is from then.” Said Heartman. 

He picked up the present. It was small and flat, and would have been mistaken for a letter were it not for the obvious depth and small lumps indicating that more than a card or letter was inside. “Hmm… Let’s see…” Heartman mumbled, turning the present over to open it up. 

Upon opening it up, the first thing he saw was a small card. Emblazoned on the front of the said card was the words ‘Merry Christmas!’ along with an image underneath of a hand-drawn BB pod next to another drawing of a snowflake. “Cute.” Sam observed. “Who’s it say it’s from?” 

Charlie opened the card and read the contents: 

**Dear Sam, Heatman and Louise,**

**Merry Christmas, and have a fantastic new year!**

**It’s been a while since we’ve last talked, Sam. It warms my heart to hear that you are still doing so well with your boyfriend and daughter. To know my granddaughter is being raised in such a loving environment is wonderful!**

**There is not a day that goes by when I don’t wonder how your family is doing; I miss you and love you all very much and I can’t wait to see you again.**

**John and I are also doing brilliantly. I know you regard him with a level of distrust, but I must assure you, as I always do, that he is treating me amazingly and we love each other immensely. (Don’t tell I told you this but he is a huge softy inside that stern exterior).**

**Helping him run an entire country is certainly a challenge but I wouldn’t get half the tasks done as quickly as I do without his competence and a clear head.**

**Words cannot express how genuinely proud I am of you, Sam. Of how diligently you have held yourself, after all, you have been through. I’m not sure even I could have come out the other side as strong as you have.**

**I love you so much my magnificent boy.**

**Make sure you say hello to Heartman and Lou from me. John just told me that he says hello too.**

**Speaking of Heartman, I know you have lost your previous family before from a void out. Your bravery is most impressive and it makes me very happy to know that a man of your mental strength and scientific calibre is taking care of my son and granddaughter. I am under no impression that they are in less than stellar hands.**

**Much love from Clifford and John.**

**P.S: Thank you for the family picture you sent us of you all. We are both relieved that you are all growing wonderfully.**

Heartman’s voice began to crack with emotion near the end of his reading and both men had tears in their eyes. “Your father loves us all so much…” Heartman sniffed. “After everything, he’s been through.” 

“Yeah.” Sam agreed as he reached for a box of tissues. “He’s a great guy. Even forgave then, got with the guy who was forced to shoot him and me.” 

Sam handed a tissue to Heartman who gratefully accepted it and wiped his eyes. 

“You are so lucky to have him, Sam. A father who loves you, after all that time apart.” He continued. 

“We all are.” Sam put his arm around his boyfriend and pulled him tight to his side. “He even managed to get Die-Hardman’s stick out of his ass.” 

His last comment pulled a watery chuckle from Heartman. “You know he was only doing as he was told.” 

“Yeah well, he’s still an asshole anyway.” Sam snarked. 

Heartman smirked. “You sound like a petulant teenager.” 

Sam just grumbled incoherently and Heartman put his hand is the gift to discover its contents. It contained two mini parcels: one labelled ‘Louise’ and the other labelled ‘Sam and Heartman’. 

“Mmmm…” A sleepy noise sounded behind them. 

Heartman turned. “Hello again, Louise. Welcome back.” He greeted. 

“Hello, daddy.” She replied in a sleepy haze. As she yawned and began to wake from her nap, and suddenly she noticed the necklace she was wearing. 

“Daddy! Wa’s this?” She asked. 

“It’s a Christmas present, honey. From papa and daddy.” Said Heartman. 

“Really?!” Her voice went high pitch with excitement. 

“Really. Merry Christmas Louise.” He smiled. 

Louise was virtually glowing with ecstatic glee! She rapidly clapped her hands with barely contained excitement and examined her necklace, enraptured by how shiny it was. 

Sam picked up the small parcel with his daughter’s name on it and held it out to her. “You’ve got one last present right here; it’s from grandpa.” 

“Gam-pa!” She cried in elation, ripping the parcel from her papa’s grasp. 

“Hey careful with that! It could break easy, Lou.” Sam reprimanded her. 

“Sorry, papa.” She apologised, taking more care of her last present this time. She carefully opened the gift with delicate fingers, trying her best to make neat tears in the paper. She didn’t want to damage the contents – she didn’t want to upset her daddy and papa. 

Once the package was finally opened, she cautiously picked out two almost identical objects she had never seen before… 

They were like necklaces: the silver, metal material that allowed the item to be placed around one’s neck was dotted with smooth, round, metal balls. Hanging from the bottom of the materials was a small rectangular shape with rounded edges that appeared to be manufactured from the same metal as the rest of the artefact. There were words and numbers embedded on each of the rectangles that Louise didn’t understand. These were the most curious things she had ever seen. 

“What these papa?” She curiously asked, holding up the items in her hands. 

Sam looked over at the items in question and kneeled next to the couch to get a closer look. “These are called dog tags, baby.” He confirmed, eyeing the items with abject wonder. 

“But we don’t have doggies.” Louise stated, her three-year-old mind becoming increasingly confused. 

“No, these aren’t for doggies, honey. They are worn by people in the military.” Sam explained. 

“Like gam-pa and gam-bad?” She queried. 

Sam chuckled at her pronunciation of ‘grandpa’ and ‘grandad’. “Yeah, exactly.” 

“What do words say?” 

“Let’s have a look.” 

Scanning over the words on the tags, he was pretty shocked to find out what they said. “Lou… These are grandad and grandpa’s tags!” He exclaimed in surprise. He knew more than anyone how much these meant to his dads. 

Upon hearing this, Heartman hurried over to the couch to also take a look. “Oh wow… Their actual tags…” Heartman had a complete wonderous look on his face. 

“Wah the worss sayyy?!” Louise repeated, her words becoming slurred and louder in her excitement and agitation of not getting an immediate answer. This brought a chuckle from her fathers, entertained by her antics. 

Sam began. “Well, the words at the top make your grandpa’s last name ‘Unger’, under that is his first name ‘Clifford’, under that is his tag I.D (that’s so they can find all the soldier’s information in the military database-” 

“Military databy?” 

Heartman chipped in. “It’s a place where facts about each soldier are stored, so if they need to, they can find out information about them.” 

This, thankfully, seemed to sate her curiosity about the subject and Louise went back to looking at the tags. Sam took this as his cue to continue. “Under the I.D is his blood type and the final part is their religion if they have any.” 

After reading over the information multiple times, poor Louise looked as if her tiny mind had been sufficiently blown. “Lot of words…” She finally spoke with a weary tone in her voice. 

“Sure is.” Heartman smiled. After a brief moment of silence, Heartman gently took the dog tags from his daughter’s hands and placed them around her neck along with her chiral necklace. 

“Louise.” He said. “These dog tags are very, _very_ precious. These are extremely personal items you have been given; it is proof that your grandparents love you very much. So, make sure you take very good care of them okay?” 

Louise stared and the dog tags with a look of awe. “Okay daddy, I will.” 

“Wanna watch us open our present from your grandparents?” Asked Sam. 

“Okay.” She replied. 

Charlie picked up Louise and all three of them gathered back around the parcel labelled ‘Sam and Heartman’. “What do you think it is?” The scientist asked as Sam picked it up. 

“I dunno, darlin’.” Said Sam. With brilliant curiosity, Sam put a finger underneath a gap in the parcel and ran it through to the other side until it was open. 

Inside was a hell of a lot of money. More money than Sam had ever seen in his life. 

Sam and Charlie’s eyes bulged with amazement. 

“How much…” Heartman gasped. He held a hand over his heart in disbelief and shock. 

“Ooooo money!” Cooed Louise. 

Sam meticulously flipped through the mass of fifty- and twenty-dollar notes, his hands trembling with adrenaline. The smell of fresh notes hit him like a metal wrecking ball. Eventually, he finished counting and sat back stunned, money still shaking in his hand. “It’s-it’s fifty thousand fuckin’ dollars…” 

“Language…” Heartman admonished his boyfriend. His warning wasn’t felt as seriously as it could have been as he was just as stupefied as Sam and as a result, his cautioning was relayed via a breathy whisper. 

How positively intimidating. 

“Why an earth would they give us so much? We already have a comfortable life here, they know that.” Continued Charlie. 

A look of apprehension crossed quickly over Sam’s face before he was able to school it back to normal. But not before Heartman noticed. He knew something was going on but decided to ask about it later. If it was something really serious, he thought it better to discuss it later; to let it go for the moment when Louise had gone to bed. 

“I-I don’t know what to say…” Sam stared at the precious money in his hands. 

“Thank you to your father perhaps?” Suggested Heartman. 

Sam snorted. “Yeah, no duh. I’ll have to let him know tomorrow.” Sam put the money back into the small package and placed it under the tree for later, still absolutely blown away by the amount of cash his father had maybe just laying around. 

“So, now it’s just the ones we’ve gotten for each other.” Said Heartman softly. 

“I think you should open yours first.” Sam said. 

“Oh really?” Charlie asked. 

“Yeah.” Sam self-consciously rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. “Once you see what I’ve got, it’ll make sense…” 

“Oh! Well, it better be pretty special considering how big you’re making this sound.” Heartman grinned. 

Sam awkwardly chuckled. “I promise, darlin’.” He winked. 

As Sam was about to open Heartman’s gift, Heartman’s AED gave him a warning. 

**_Two minutes left until cardiac arrest._**

Heartman let out a frustrated sigh. After all these years, he never got used to the AED interrupting his quality time with his family. “Can this wait three minutes?” 

Sam smiled sweetly and put his hand behind Heartman’s head to draw him in for a loving, passionate kiss. Sam loved any excuse to kiss his boyfriend; he loved the softness of his lips, the smell of his soft, musky cologne, the feel of his tongue in their more passionate moments. 

After they kissed, they nuzzled foreheads and Sam playfully punched his lover’s shoulder. “Would you just die for three minutes already? We’ve got our last presents to open, man.” He joked. 

Heartman laughed and made his way over to his leather stretcher where he lay down. He braced one hand next to his sand timer. 

“You’ll come back, daddy?” Asked Louise with a worried expression. 

Heartman looked over with a sad, sympathetic expression. “Unquestionably, love.” He grinned. 

Louise giggled, obviously very happy with that answer. 

“Okay! We love you, daddy!” She happily announced. 

Heartman’s eyes grew hot with developing tears. “I love you both too.” He said as he lay down, trying to gey in a comfortable position. 

**_10 seconds until cardiac arrest._**

“See you in three minutes.” He stated and quickly flipped over the sand timer before going limp. 

“What if he don’t come back?” Asked Louise worriedly. She gripped onto her papa’s clothes and lay her soft head against his torso. 

“’ Course he’ll come back, sweety.” Her papa replied. “He’ll always come back to us because he loves us.” 

“You sure?” 

“I’m extra super-duper positive.” 

Louise gasped. “ _Extra_ supa dupa?!” 

“Oh yeah.” Sam reassured her. 

“Okay den!” 

“C’mon. Let’s clear up all this wrapping paper and boxes so it’s clear when daddy comes back.” 

“Ya!” 

The two got to work cleaning up pieces of wrapping paper, boxes and sticky tape while putting them all in the appropriate recycling boxes. Sam made sure to give Louise lots of praise after she picked up even the smallest of pieces, resulting in a very giggly three-year-old and lots of affectionate kisses and cuddles. The whole process took about one and a half minutes and afterwards the two family members flopped back on the couch to await Heartman’s return. 

The longer they waited, the more nerves began to gather in waves among Sam’s intestines. 

When he’d bought the rings, he was ecstatic! He knew Charlie would be so happy with them. They had spent three amazing years together and had seemingly fallen more and more in love every day. They _had_ spoken of marriage before, during lazy mornings cuddled close together, but both had been too nervous to speak of making anything official. Sam knew that they were both ready to get engaged, but he also knew that Heartman would never make the first move; he was too nervous by nature due to the grief of losing his family and scared that this second family he had been so fortunate to find could blow apart with a single mistake. 

It saddened Sam greatly that Heartman had doubts that his boyfriend would accept a proposal from him. As if Sam would think he wasn’t worth it. That he wasn’t special enough. 

Well if this didn’t prove him otherwise then Sam didn’t know what would. 

Without warning, a loud gasp was heard from the nearby leather stretcher along with the tell-tale clunk of the hourglass being turned over. Heartman was finally awake. 

He sat up breathless for a few seconds as he wiped some escaping tears from his eyes. Once he was fully composed, he got on the stretcher, turned to his family and smiled. 

“Hello again.” He warmly greeted his boyfriend. 

“Hey, babe.” Sam welcomed. 

“Daddy!” Louise squeed with relief. 

Heartman chuckled in amusement and walked over to his family, hugging them both and kissing them on their cheeks. “Didn’t have too much fun without me I hope?” 

“We cleaned up daddy!” Said their little girl. 

Heartman surveyed the area around the Christmas tree and saw that it was indeed completely void of wrapping paper and empty boxes. “Well, well. So you have! Excellent work, both of you.” He praised. 

Louise gave him a beaming grin. “We did all fo’ you!” 

“I’m very proud of you two for that. Thank you.” 

“No problem, babe.” Said Sam with a slight blush glazing his cheeks. 

Heartman put his hands on his hips and looked around until he spotted his present for Sam. “Ah!” He gasped, picking it up and bringing it over to the couch. “Want to continue where we left off?” 

Sam smiled and patted the seat next to him where Heartman promptly sat down. “Let’s see what you got me then.” He winked at his lover. 

Heartman felt like his heart was going to beat out of his throat. He desperately hoped Sam liked what he got him. The present was quite small but that did nothing to lessen the excitement on Sam’s face as he delightfully got to work on opening the present. Once he saw the contents of said present his eyes went wide. 

Heartman had gifted him an immaculate bracelet. It seemed to be made of the same material as the rope he carried with him on jobs. It was a gorgeous mix of blue, gold and red threads all interwoven together to form a sequential pattern that was almost hypnotising in its presentation. And in the middle of the threads was a gold heart with the letters S+C+L engraved on it. 

“I-it’s a mixture of sorts. It represents important aspects of your life.” Heartman pointed at the different coloured threads. “The blue thread symbolises your important work as a Porter, resulting in how we met and it also represents how hard you have had to work throughout your life and to care for our family. The gold part is made of chiralium and it represents all the fights you have gone through to save us all from the Last Stranding and the red… That’s my DNA. My blood. So, whenever you are not with us, you can at least have a piece of me with you…” He trailed off nervously. 

Out of nowhere, he was overwhelmed by Sam virtually throwing himself at him in a bear hug. Heartman shakily returned the hug and looking up at Sam, saw the other man also had tears in his eyes. Sam then put his hands-on Heartman’s cheeks and gave him a kiss filled with love and compassion, ignoring the ‘Eww’ from Louise in the background. “Darlin’ this is wonderful.” He said with a watery grin. “This genuinely means so much to me… I love you so much. If I ever feel lonely out on the road, that'll make me think of you.” 

Heartman laughed back. “I’m glad you love it so much.” 

Sam pulled back and carefully put on the bracelet, tightening it slightly so it fit snugly on his wrist and taking a minute to appreciate the craftwork that had gone into this intricate gift. “I suppose it’s time for the last present now, huh?” Sam wrung his hands together nervously. 

“Yes.” Said Heartman, picking up Louise and placing her on his lap. 

Sam braced himself by taking a few deep breaths. 

_Okay, Sam. Don’t fucking screw this up. This is the most important moment of your life! You’re gonna propose to the man you love and you’re gonna make it amazing!_

With a final calming breath, he slipped down in front of the couch onto one knee and took Heartman’s hand. “Charlie…” He started. “I’m sorry for scratching your record that one time.” 

Heartman laughed around his tears. He had been pretty damn pissed when he sensed that his prized record was used like a DJ’s track at a music club, but to his credit, Sam had not touched it since. 

“Besides that…” He took another deep breath. “I love you so god damn much darlin’. When we first met, I thought you were just some odd-ball scientist recluse and honestly didn’t think much else. I didn’t even expect to see you again. It was only when you offered to take Lou and me in when we had nowhere to go that I began to appreciate you as more than that. Especially so when you helped me with my depression. Even though I kept batting your advice away and refusing to help myself. I don’t know how you did it but you eventually managed to kick my butt and show me that by wallowing in my self-pity, I was letting down and ignoring my daughter. You showed me that I was deserving of love and affection. And somewhere along the way, you even showed me I still had it in me to love again. You are one of the most patient men I’ve ever met: you helped not only raise Louise but raise me too. I don’t know many people who could manage that and still stay sane.” 

This coaxed another laugh from Charlie, now with a few tears falling down his smiling cheeks. 

“Anyway… Main thing is I love you and… After three long years together raising our beautiful daughter – erm – I think we should probably-” He took a moment to gulp down his insecurities. “I’d like it very much; it would make me so so happy if we made this whole thing permanently official.” 

Then, without missing a beat, he smoothly reached into one of his trouser pockets and pulled out an elegant looking, small, blue, velvet box. He released Heartman’s hand so he could open the golden hinged lid. 

Inside the box where two glossy gold rings with a thick band of pure platinum in the middle. 

“Oh, my- Sam…” Heartman had tears in his eyes now. 

“Would you do me the honour of becoming Charlie Bridges? Will you marry me?” Sam asked, holding out one of the rings. 

Heartman made a choked sob and briefly lay his head in his hands, trying to wipe away the many tears that were now escaping. 

“Okay, daddy?” Asked Louise. 

Heartman sniffed. “Yes. Yes, I’m fine. I’m more than fine.” He looked up at Sam with a giddy grin. “Yes! Of course, I’ll marry you, Sam!” He cried, his body and mind now filled to the brim with nerve-wracking emotion. 

Sam couldn’t believe how happy he was! He’d said yes! He had said he wanted to marry him! He was engaged now! What the hell?! He took a moment, still smiling like a joyous clown, to let the acceptance of his proposal sink in. 

This was really happening… 

_HOLY SHIT!_

Heartman held out his hand and Sam gently took it in his own before putting the ring he held out onto his love’s finger. 

Charlie held up the ring to get a closer look at it, and upon looking closer, he realised that the ring he now wore had a small inscription in the platinum band: Bonded by love. Bonded by souls. Bonded by minds. “Sam…” He sobbed, and held out his arms. 

Having just put on his ring, Sam leaned forward and allowed himself to become enveloped in his now fiancé’s arms. Heartman grasped at the back of Sam’s shirt, full of unbridled emotion and he lay his head on Sam’s shoulder where he continued to cry. 

Meanwhile, Louise was thoroughly confused. 

Her fathers were crying, but they both seemed very happy. But you are supposed to cry when you’re sad right? So how can they be happy? 

“Why are you crying?” She asked in slight distress. 

Noticing his daughter’s confusion, Sam let out a small laugh. “It’s okay, darlin’. Your daddy and are just really happy?” 

“But you crying…” She continued. 

“I told you earlier remember? These are happy tears, don’t worry. People can cry when they’re happy too.” 

“But you okay?” 

Heartman disengaged from the hug and wrapped his arms around Louise, putting her in between her fathers. “Yes love, we’re both more than okay!” He showed Louise the ring on his finger. “See this? It’s an engagement ring. It means your papa and I are going to getting married in the future!” Heartman explained with a face-splitting grin. 

Louise gasped. “Mawied?!” 

“Yeah, baby. You don’t mind that?” Asked Sam. 

“I ca’ be flowur garl!” She clapped her hands together delightfully. 

The engaged couple laughed and hugged their daughter. 

Sam smiled. “You’ll be the prettiest flower girl ever, darlin’.” 

Louise just giggled giddily, leaning into her papa with excitement and Sam got onto the couch and cuddled up to his family. “I’m so lucky to have you both… I love you both.” He admitted with soft, warm eyes that only his family were permitted to see. 

Heartman leaned into his lover. “We love you too.” He said with a smile. 

* * *

Sleeping in the same bed as Charlie used to be an unusual experience. 

There were the twenty-one minutes of cuddling and kissing – and then the three minutes of Heartman not breathing and suddenly going limp before waking with a sudden gasp. 

Sam would have found it darkly humorous if he wasn’t present to the obvious anxiety it caused him. He was amazed by how Charlie had avoided dark circles, puffy eyes and constant yawning. Turns out Charlie didn’t know how either. Maybe some weird Death Stranding effect? They had no idea. 

The scientist insisted on not doing anything about it. He was too used to his routine. 

But Sam witnessed the awful toll it took on his lover: he heard the silent sobs when Heartman excused himself to go to their on-suit bathroom, his loss of appetite, occasional dizziness and increasing forgetfulness. He knew this would all get worse if nothing was done. 

So eventually, and with much cajoling on Sam’s part, Heartman was convinced to take a strong sleeping tablet every time they had finished cuddling and wanted to sleep. That way whenever Charlie was revived, he wouldn’t wake up. And he’d been doing a hell of a lot better now he got some sleep. 

They always cuddled before sleeping; it helped with both of their anxieties and reinforced their love for one another. 

This particular night Sam was lying on his back with Heartman on his chest after putting his glasses on the nightstand. Sam stroked his boyfriend’s arm to comfort him. 

“I’m glad we met Sam.” Heartman whispered. His hand finding Sam’s on his hip and grasping it tightly. “Before, we were two broken souls, dismantled and torn up by our pasts and tragic circumstances. But then we got thrust together, apart of the same mission by fate. To piece each other together.” 

“That’s the sappiest shit I’ve ever heard you say.” 

“Sappier than being proposed to?” 

Sam rolled his eyes and smirked. “Shut up.” 

Heartman just laughed. 

“But yeah, you’re right.” Sam said. “If you hadn’t taken us in, Lou’d likely have been fine with Deadman and Fragile visitin’ but I would never have thought of reconnecting with my dad or speaking with Die-Hardman again. I’d still be as depressed and lonely as I was. It’s taken real long time to realise none of that’s ever going away, but it’s good to have someone with me besides Lou to make livin’ life that bit more bearable.” 

“I’m glad I could help.” 

“I’m glad you do.” 

And it was a peaceful night for them both. 

The End 

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive critisisms are welcome!


End file.
